


i swear that i can see forever in your eyes

by nouiiam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, footloose is involved, idk - Freeform, sixth form au????, this isnt really a high school au is it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 09:05:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1381744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nouiiam/pseuds/nouiiam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry doesn't act. Louis doesn't love Harry. They're both wrong.</p><p>-aka the one where Harry's a douche that gets the lead role in Footloose and Louis is his leading lady.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i swear that i can see forever in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank Brittany for going through this and editing it! a lot less mistakes (if there even are any) than usual!
> 
> also, im not british and idk how their school system works, so i tried to be correct with the sixth form stuff, but tbh, my only knowledge is from watching Skins. so if im off...oops.

Louis wasn't the type of person to hate people. Okay, that's a lie. Louis hated a lot of people. There was his next door neighbor whose dog gave him a wakeup call at five am every day, which was great on school days but totally unnecessary on weekends.  There was his old year 10 Biology teacher who he was pretty sure hated him so the feeling was mutual. Then there was his mum's new boyfriend and he didn't even want to get into that, really.

 

And then there was Harry Styles. He really hated Harry Styles.

 

He hadn't always, there was surprisingly a time where the two were practically attached at the hip. Secondary school was great, they were best mates, the two of them. Always together after school, sitting together in almost every class they had together, they were  _LouisandHarry_. But now that they're in college, and it's become Louis and that one dick that's in Louis's choir class. Or at least that what Louis refers to them as now. 

 

The thing is, Louis doesn't know what happened with Harry. He doesn't know why Harry just brushed past him on their first day of college and acted like Louis didn't exist. Or even why Harry stopped sitting next to him in their classes, and stopped going out to lunch with him. He just doesn't know and he wants to, but he and Harry don't talk anymore and he's not going to go out of his way to figure out why one of his best friends started to shut him out. So he does what any normal person would do. He hates him. 

 

It'd be easier to not hate him if he hadn't turned into such an  _asshole._  It's like Harry's been replaced by this new, evil Harry that goes around and sleeps with every girl he sees fit. A new Harry that shows up to class almost ten minutes late because him and Liam decided last minute that they wanted to go to Starbucks in the morning. One that sneers crude names at Louis whenever they pass each other in the hall, acting as if they were never friends in the first place. 

 

And Louis tries. He tries so hard to give Harry benefit of the doubt, to think that maybe it's just a phase. But now they're in their last year of college and Harry's still the same as when they started, so all hope is lost, and yeah. He hates Harry Styles. He hates him and everyone associated with him --except for Niall, who is too nice and Louis would feel bad if he were rude to him. He sits as far as he can in any of their shared classes, goes the long way to get to his classes, focuses on drama and footie just to forget the fact that his ex-best friend has turned into the biggest dick on the planet and he can't do anything about it.

 

He's got Zayn, though. Zayn, who's currently sat with him in the library and is too engaged in a conversation with their friend Perrie to even acknowledge Louis's presence. So Zayn's not as good as Harry was, but he's a close friend and Louis will take what he can get. He's kidding, for the most part. Zayn's been a great friend to him since secondary school and he's glad he's still around.

 

"Zayn, pay attention to me." Louis says, snapping his fingers in front of Zayn's face and grabbing his attention. Perrie giggles as Zayn rolls his eyes, shoving Louis's hand out of his face and facing him. "Good, now help me with my Theater Arts essay." He points to his laptop screen, where's written probably half of what's required and he can't think of anything else to say. He doesn't even know why he's got to write this stupid paper on Pierre Corneille anyways. Tragedy isn't his strong suit at all and his teacher  _knows_  that. He was just trying to make Louis's life as hard as possible.

 

"If I wanted to do theater arts, I would've signed up for theater arts." Zayn replies, but he peeks at Louis's essay anyways, reading through it and telling Louis where to fix any mistakes and what to add so it makes it seem longer and more intelligent than the paper actually is. This is the exact reason Louis's chosen to keep Zayn around. "I don't know much more than that." 

 

Louis shrugs, typing in whatever information he's got written in his notes and decided that he's far enough that he can just bullshit the rest of it. He's been working on it for two days now and he was completely done with trying at this point. He wasn't too concerned as long as he passed.

 

"Styles." Zayn mutters, nodding his door over to the library doors where Harry, Liam and Niall were walking in, laughing far too loudly and obnoxiously for Louis's liking. He sighs, saving his document and shutting his laptop. He didn't have time to deal with whatever Harry was going to throw at him today. He had already pulled an all-nighter memorizing lines for his drama auditions and he was too tired for this. 

 

"Should we go?" Perrie asks, but it's too late because Harry's already spotted Louis and has a smug grin on his face that Louis really wants to smack off. Louis holds his breath as Harry and his friends start walking towards where they were sat, quickly glancing to Zayn and Perrie who seemed just as annoyed as he was. They weren't exactly running a Harry Styles fan club.

 

"Louis, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Harry says, sitting in the seat next to Louis and crossing his arms on the table. Liam takes the seat beside Zayn and Louis can see Zayn's breath hitch a bit. The two exchange glances, which Louis should question Zayn about this later, but right now he's got other things to worry about. He lets out his breath, ignoring Harry's question and facing away from him. He liked it better when Harry used to pretend he didn't exist. "Silent treatment now? I'm wounded, Louis."

 

"How nice of you to remember my name." Louis snaps, turning to Harry and narrowing his eyes. "Would've thought you'd forgotten by now." Harry's taken back, sitting up straighter and seeming surprised and if Louis didn't know better, he would think Harry seemed…hurt, almost. He did know better, though, and Harry was just being his usual self. "If you're done, I'm going back to my room." He says, standing up and shoving his laptop in his bag. "Nice seeing you, Niall." He smiles at the blond, then gestures for Zayn and Perrie to follow him out of the library. They both stand, saying their goodbyes to Niall and exiting the library behind Louis.

 

 

* * *

 

Choir class was hell. 

 

It was first period and he was too tired to do anything, really. He and Zayn shared that class together, which was the good part. The bad part was that they shared it with Harry and Liam. Niall was in there too, but Louis wasn't too worried about him. He's not entirely sure why Niall choses to spend his time with Harry and Liam, but he's not going to question it. They'd all been friends at some point, Niall was the only one that didn't pick a side when the whole situation happened, but Louis couldn't blame him. Niall had always been friends with everyone and he tried his best to have everyone get along and sing songs around a campfire and all of those peaceful things you see in movies. Louis liked Niall.

 

Niall sat with him and Zayn during choir, much to the annoyance of Harry. Louis shoots him a victorious glance, one that lasts no longer than a second before their teacher is at the front of the classroom and capturing their attention. Louis attempts to pay attention, but instead finds his mind wandering elsewhere, his eyes darting around the class until they land on someone else's across the room. That someone else happens to be Harry. 

 

He looks away quickly, fumbling with his fingers and staring down at his lap. Louis raises an eyebrow, shaking his head and going back to focusing on what song they'd be learning. Only, he couldn't focus before and he sure as hell wasn't going to be able to focus now. Harry was staring at him. He doesn't know why, but it couldn't be for a good reason. It was Harry after all, that never meant anything good anymore. 

 

"Louis, you good?" Zayn whispers, nudging Louis's arm and giving him a worried glance. Louis nods, pretending that he wasn't worried about Harry planning something that had to do with him. His eyes flicker over to where Harry was seated, except now the lad was joking with Liam and completely disregarding the class. Typical.

 

"Yeah, just nervous for auditions today." He answers, smiling weakly. It was somewhat true, except he wasn't really one to get nervous for his auditions. He had landed the lead role for every production they had put on since he's begun sixth form, and he's gotten confident about it. Not as arrogant as Harry, but he knows that he's got a slight advantage over the others that audition.

 

Zayn returns the smile, placing a hand on Louis's shoulder. "You'll get the part, I'm sure. No one can play Ren as well as you could." He reassures. Louis shrugs, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. That year's musical was Footloose and he was determined to get the part of Ren McCormack. He had been memorizing his audition lines every night, going over the song he had to sing and watching the movie every night for the past month. Safe to say, he had the part down easy. He had gotten the lead is numerous other school plays, but this would be his last one at college and he wanted to go out with a bang. As Louis Tomlinson usually does.

 

He shrugs, leaning back in his seat. He had played Danny in Grease last year, so it'd only make sense for him to play Ren in Footloose. There wasn't anyone else he could play, anyways. Well there was, but he didn't want to play any of those. It was the lead or nothing for him this year, and he didn't like that second option too much.

 

* * *

 

  
Louis rushes into the auditorium, almost five minutes late because Zayn and Perrie felt the need to wish him luck ten different times before they actually let him leave his and Zayn's flat. It wasn't that much time, but there were already a handful of other students waiting to audition and he was hoping to be one of the first on the list. First and last always make a lasting impression. No one really remembers the ones in the middle, he's learned. 

 

He decides to wait until he's sure no one else is going to arrive to put his name on the audition list. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he didn't care. Whatever helped him get the lead. 

 

Half an hour passes before almost everyone has auditioned and he's sure no one else is going to show up. He smiles to himself, standing from where he was seated and walking over to the sign in board. He hurriedly signs his name, satisfied until he hears the doors to the auditorium open and hushed whispers from people that were there. He looks up at the door, eyes widening when he sees Harry walking in, hands in his jean pockets and seeming as arrogant as ever. 

 

Louis groans, storming up to Harry. "What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" He asks in a hushed tone, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms. Harry furrows his eyebrows, biting his lips before answering.

 

"M'auditioning." He replies, shrugging as if it were no big deal. Louis scoffs, shaking his head. Harry was here for a reason, and he wasn't sure what it was yet, but Louis didn't like whatever it was. Harry always had an intent when it came to Louis, like when he had one of his stupid hipster friends ask him out on a date just to stand him up. He hadn't been on a date since, and he refused to accept one whenever he got asked. 

 

"You don't act, you've never acted." Louis says warily. "You don't dance either." He remembers. Harry thinks he doesn't, but he does. Harry couldn't dance for shit, couldn't act well either. He doesn't even know why Harry's there to begin with. He knows,  _Harry knows,_  how invested Louis was in this. He's known for years, and now he's decided he would just use it against. Harry Styles was a twat.

 

Harry shrugs again and this throws Louis over the edge. This was  _serious_  and Harry wasn't treating it as such. He just, he thought he could waltz into  _Louis's_  audition and just try out like it was nothing. Louis was pissed. He was the one that had been acting for  _years,_  constantly getting shit for it because of how girly people thought it was and this was all such  _bullshit._  

 

"No. No, you're not allowed to be here. Leave. Go fuck some girl or something." Louis spits, poking Harry in the chest. Harry stares at him, confused.

 

"Why not?" He asks, pushing Louis's finger off of his chest. Louis places his hands on his hips, glaring at Harry, but staying quiet. He doesn't have an answer, but either way, Harry wasn't allowed to be there. This was his Harry free-zone and he didn't want him to invade it. 

 

"Stay away from me and stay away from my role." Louis says, venom laced in his tone. He shoots Harry one last dirty look, turning around and stomping off to where he had set his bag down. Who did Harry think he  _was_ , thinking he could come and audition like it was no big deal. Like it was just another thing that he could come and take over. No, Louis won't let him. Harry couldn't act, anyways. All he was good for was standing some place and looking pretty. Being and asshole too. He was good at that.

 

He sits quietly, pretending Harry never showed and mouths his lines to himself. Harry was not going to distract him from what he was there for. 

 

He's focused for all of ten minutes before someone taps his shoulder lightly, taking his focus off of going over the song lyrics. He turns around, letting out an annoyed groan when he sees that Harry's sat behind him. "Go away."

 

"Look, Lou—"

 

"What part of go away do you not understand?" Louis interrupts, giving Harry an incredulous look. "Just leave me the fuck alone."

 

Harry sighs, shaking his head. "I know you hate me—"

 

"That doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about you."

 

"—but I didn't mean—" He's interrupted again as someone calls Louis's name from the list. Louis gives a sarcastic smile, standing up and making his way into the audition room. He's fine, completely fine. Harry was just trying to mess him up before his audition. It's not going to work. He's got everything memorized and he's going to ace his audition easily. 

 

 

* * *

 

He thinks he did well. He recited his lines and sang his audition song on the first day perfectly fine. The second day had been the dance auditions, which he had been a bit more nervous about, but he learned the sample choreography quickly and he's certain that he did the best he could. The lead role was his, he was absolutely sure of it.

 

He logs onto the school website a week after auditions, redirecting himself to the Drama Club site and searching for the cast list. He finds the link after a few minutes of searching and he hovers his mouse over it before confidently clicking on it and skimming the page until he sees the main character list. 

 

_Ren McCormack ------- Harry Styles_

 

Louis freezes, re-reading the line and shaking his head. That had to be wrong, there was no way Harry had gotten the role over himself. He practiced day and night for that part, had basically forgotten about the majority of his classes so he could learn the lines he needed to memorize. This had to be wrong.

 

He refreshes the page, hoping maybe it had been an error, maybe a glitch. But it was still there no matter how many times he refreshed the page. He laid back on his bed in defeat, not sure if he wanted to see the rest of the list to see what small part he may or may not have gotten. The whole "there are no small parts only small actors" thing was bullshit. There were lead roles for a reason and if Louis didn't have it then there wasn't even a point in being in the musical. 

 

It takes a couple of minutes and a few words of encouragement, but he sits back up and glances at his laptop screen, ready to close it until he spots his name at the last second. So he had gotten a part after all, a small one probably. He sighs, following his name to see what part he had gotten.

 

_Ariel Moore ------- Louis Tomlinson_

 

What. The. Fuck. 

 

Louis stares at the screen in disbelief, trying to process what he had just read. No no, this had to be mistaken. He couldn't have gotten the  _female_  lead. There was no possible way he had gotten the part of Ariel, no, this had to be some sort of mistake. Someone was pulling a prank on him—

 

Harry.

 

This had Harry written all over it. He had tech friends, he could've had one of them hack the website and change the cast list. That was it, the only explanation that made sense in Louis's mind. He couldn't, no, he wouldn't be Harry's leading lady...could he even call himself that? Fuck Harry for messing with him. 

 

He moves his laptop to the side, getting out of bed and grabbing his hoodie from his desk chair. He pulls it on, slipping on his shoes and hurrying out of his room. 

 

Zayn's sat on the sofa, reading one of his Psychology text books. He looks up when he hears Louis rushing out, raising an eyebrow and shutting his book. "Cast list was posted?" He asks, confused. Louis stops in his tracks, glancing at Zayn before letting out an exasperated sigh and rushing out of their flat, slamming the door in the process. Zayn purses his lips, his eyes lingering over the door before shrugging and returning to his text book.

 

 

* * *

 

It's a five minute walk from his flat to their college campus. It's nice and convenient, especially at times like this when Louis's pissed off and needs to get there quickly.

 

 "Harry!" Louis yells, spotting the lad with a group of his friends on the courtyard. They're sat on the grass, laughing and joking about. Louis's sure it's about the cast list. It has to be, this was their plan. To get Louis riled up about it and get a reaction. He doesn't even care anymore, he just wants his role. He storms over to the group, standing next to Harry as the other boy looks up at him. 

 

"It's ten am on a Saturday, what could I have possibly done?" Harry asks, earning a couple of laughs from his friends. Louis glares at them all, shutting them up quickly before he turns back to Harry.

 

"Fix the cast list." He demands, crossing his arms. Harry blinks a couple of times, then furrows his eyebrows in confusion. He does that a lot, Louis doesn't like it. But then again, Louis doesn't like him.

 

"What do you mean? Did it get posted?" He takes his phone out of his bag, pulling up the cast list and smiling. "Oh hey, I got the lead—" Louis wants to cry at those words. Harry got the lead, he didn't like the thought of that. Which is exactly why it all had to be a joke. If he was going to lose the part to anyone, he didn't want it to be Harry. God knows how much credibility he would lose for this.

 

"You don't think I know that?" Louis sneers. "Go change it back." 

 

Harry stares at him, biting his lip and shrugging. "I didn't do anything to it." He says, putting his phone away. Louis scoffs, shaking his head.

 

"You did something. You can't fucking act for shit. How did you get the male lead role while I got the female lead—" He stops himself, realizing what he's just admitted. Harry widens his eyes in a mix a shock and amusement, picking up his phone once again and looking for Louis's name. 

 

Harry's quiet for a minute and Louis knows that it's not a good thing. "Does that make you my leading lady?" He says after a minute. He smiles. Louis wants to punch him. He wants to punch him and scream and let out all of the anger he's been feeling towards him for the past two years. But he needs to stay calm, because yelling isn't going to get Harry to change the list back. It'll just give him the reaction he wants and Louis wasn't going to let him win.

 

"Whatever you did, just change it back." Louis says as calmly as he can manage, which is better than he thought. Harry lays back on the grass, shielding his eyes. Louis has half a mind not to kick him then and there. 

 

"Didn't do a thing. I look forward to rehearsal, love." Harry tells him, grinning smugly. Louis glares at him one last time before trudging off back to his flat. He'd talk to the Drama teacher in class on Monday, Harry would have to fix it then.

 

 

* * *

 

The cast list didn't change between then and Monday, which makes Louis even more worried that this is real and it's all really happening. He not only got beat out for the lead role by  _Harry fucking Styles_ , but he had gotten the female lead which didn't make any sense whatsoever. Of all the other parts, he gets Ariel Moore. It's a lead, sure alright, but it's a female lead. Louis isn't female, he's sure. He's a male and he wants the lead male role, like he should have. Harry shouldn't. It was ridiculous.

 

"Mrs. Winters," He says at the end of Drama class when the rest of the students have left the room. He'd figure it all out today, whether he actually got the role of Ren and this was all some stupid joke or if he was so terrible that Harry Styles got the role instead. "I think there's a mistake with the cast list."

 

She looks up from her desk, smiling at Louis. "What do you mean dear?" She asks.

 

"It's just, Harry got the role of Ren," It doesn't even make sense when he says it out loud. "And I got the role of Ariel? That doesn't make any sense, Ariel is a female role." He explains slowly, hoping she would catch what he meant. 

 

"No no, that's correct." She replies, opening the binder on her desk and flipping to the hand written cast list she had. She points her finger to Louis's name, following it until it says Ariel Moore and Louis can't deny it now. Harry wasn't lying for once. He had gotten the role of  _Ariel_. What did that mean? Would he have to parade around stage as a girl? Not that he hasn't dressed in drag for a play before, but it was never in a serious way like this would be. "You two have got chemistry, I like that. I could have cast Eleanor, but I don't think I'd get the same result."

 

Louis's shocked, to say the least. "What do you mean?" He asks, biting his lip and shoving his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. Chemistry. He and Harry had chemistry. What a joke that was. 

 

"You and Harry, you two seem like you'd work well together. There's a few adjustments that would made, but I think it could work well." So no parading around as a girl. That's kind of a relief, only there was still the fact that he was playing Harry's love interest and he's forgotten how to do anything but hate him. He's not sure how he's going to go through rehearsals acting like he's in love when it's really the opposite.

 

"Harry can't dance" He blurts, desperate to say anything that would fix this. Except she just laughs and shakes her head. She was at the dance auditions, surely she saw how terrible of a dancer Harry had been. He didn't see him himself, but he's seen Harry dance before and he wasn't exactly fantastic.

 

"Quite contrary. He's not bad with a bit choreography." She says. Louis sighs, there's no way out of this one. He might as well just take the role he got and run with it. "It'll be a great show, Louis. Will I be seeing you at first rehearsal tomorrow?" 

 

Louis thinks about it, then lets out a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, I'll be there." He was going to regret this, he know he was. Nothing good comes with Harry, but he couldn't just quit the show. No, Harry would get what he wanted then. He was going to show up to rehearsals and he was going to be the best damn Ariel Moore there was.

 

* * *

 

 

Zayn won't stop laughing. Louis won't stop glaring at Zayn. Niall and Perrie are confused. 

 

"So Harry got the role?" Zayn asks for what seems to be the millionth time that day. Louis tried to explain the story to helping, hoping that he would be the one to understand, but instead he is sitting here laughing at Louis's misfortune. How rude.

 

Niall and Perrie understood, at least. Perrie tried to comfort him, tell him that it takes the greatest actor to play such an unexpected role. Niall told him that Harry would probably hurt himself in some way before the actual show, so maybe Louis would have his chance after all. But Zayn, Zayn just had to be an asshole and make fun of him for losing out on the role. So much for being a supportive best friend.

 

"Yes, Zayn. He got the role." Louis sighs, tired of the question. Perrie smacks Zayn's arm, sending him a warning look before looking back at Louis. 

 

"You're still gonna be great." She says. Louis shrugs, resting his head on the table. He has rehearsal in an hour, which means he has to face everyone else, including Harry. He would have to spend the most time with Harry and that's what he was dreading most. With his experience of being a lead, the male and female lead always rehearse together on their own, just to get things right. To figure things out alone instead of with the rest of the group. The last thing he wants to do is spend extra time with Harry.

 

"Harry's not too bad, Lou." Niall tells him, placing a hand on him shoulder. Louis picks his head up, staring at Niall with a blank look on his face. Niall shrugs, grabbing the cookie Louis had ordered whilethey were at Starbucks but refused to finish. He had lost his appetite when Zayn started laughing at him. "Give it a shot, might surprise you."

 

Louis groans, dropping his head back down. "That's exactly the problem." He mumbles. "He surprises me too much."

 

* * *

 

 

All eyes are on him when he walks into the auditorium for rehearsal. He's getting weird stares from the guys and glares from the girls that had auditioned for the part of Ariel. Then there's Harry.

 

Harry's just staring at him, like he's waiting for Louis to yell at him or smack him or something. In any other case, Louis probably would do one or all of those things, but he's here for a reason and he wasn't going to let anything or anyone get in the way of that.

 

He ignores all of the stares and sits down somewhere towards the front, taking out his phone and pretending he was interested in something on it when he was really just trying to pass the time. 

 

"So do you believe me yet?" He looks up, being met with Harry standing in front of him clad in black skinny jeans and red plaid shirt. Not that Louis noticed. 

 

Louis rolls his eyes, going back to his phone and refreshing his Facebook feed. He didn't have time for Harry to rub in the fact that he got the lead and Louis didn't. 

 

He half expects Harry to leave him alone, but instead Harry sits down in the seat right next to him, his eyes stuck on Louis. "Why do you hate me?" He asks, catching Louis off guard. Of all of the questions, Harry has to ask that one. Louis can't even figure where to begin on his list of why he hates Harry Styles. There's the obvious reason, which is the whole "you abandoned me our first year of college and then turned into a massive dick" reason. Or he could go with all of the hurtful names Harry's called him, which started sometime in the middle of their first year in college. Maybe it's because Harry thinks he can do what he wants without consequences, or that he thinks he's the best thing to grace the earth.

 

"Do you really not know the answer to that question?" Louis shoots back. Harry bites the inside of hip lip, sighing. 

 

"I deserve that."

 

"No fucking duh. Is there a purpose to you bothering me or are you just being an asshole like usual?" 

 

Harry flinches. Louis feels victorious. "Louis—" He stops when Mrs. Winters is standing on the stage, gesturing for everyone to be quiet. Louis lets out a breath of relief, putting his phone away and focusing on what their Drama teacher had to say.

 

* * *

 

 

The first two weeks of rehearsal run smoothly. It's mostly doing read throughs and learning the choreography. They've still got another month and a half, and Louis knows that starting the third week they're going to begin blocking and actually acting out the scenes on stage. That means he's going to have to start rehearsing privately with Harry and he's not sure he's quite ready for that yet. He's barely at the point where he knows he has to read out the lines where it says Ariel, but only because he went through his script and changed everywhere it said Ariel to Alex, just to make sure he didn't mess up.

 

"Louis, Harry, could I speak to you two privately?" Mrs. Winters asks the Monday that starts off rehearsal week number three. Louis's breath hitches. He knows what this means, it's all happened before. Harry glances over at him quickly, seeming just as nervous as Louis does. Louis sighs, both of them climbing off the stage and following her out into the hallway. "Now, as the leads, you two have a very important role in this production."

 

Louis sighs, but nods and smiles as if he weren't planning Harry's murder in his head. All of the private time could give him an advantage, really. 

 

"I think you two should spend time together rehearsing your lines and practicing your reactions towards the other." She explains, then turns to Louis. "You know what I mean, don't you dear?" He nods, staring down at the ground. Of course he knows what she means, he had been her lead male for every production they'd put on since he started sixth form. 

 

"Yeah, I know what you mean." He answers, looking up and smiling softly at her. Harry clears his throat, glancing between both of them and arching an eyebrow.

 

"So we have to practice together...alone?" He asks. Louis nods, his eyes quickly flickering to Harry but then focusing back on Mrs. Winters. "Oh." He mumbles, not quite expecting to be thrown into private rehearsals with Louis. He's not sure how that would work out, seeing as Louis can't stand to be within three feet of him and he can't open his mouth without saying something rude or stupid and offending Louis. It's become too much of a habit from doing it the past two years, that he can't seem to stop himself anymore.

 

"I'll leave you two to figure things out." Mrs. Winters says before going back into the auditorium and leaving both boys alone in the hallway. Louis shakes his head, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. Harry stood in the middle of the hallway, eyes on Louis and biting his lip nervously. 

 

"What days are you free then?" Louis asks, flicking his fringe out of his eyes and staring up at Harry. He's got no choice now, so he might as well act as civil as he can. If Harry so much as fucks this up for him once, he's going to go straight to Mrs. Winters and tell her that it's either him or Harry that stays in the show. 

 

Harry shrugs, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Dunno, any day is fine." He answers. Louis stares at him, deciding whether or not he wanted to smack him of calmly leave the room instead. He does neither of those things and stands straight, let out a deep breath and reminding himself that murdering the male lead isn't the wisest thing to do at the moment.

 

"Every day it is, then." He says, giving Harry a challenging look. Harry seems defeated, but Louis can tell that he refuses to complain. That's not what Louis wants. He wants Harry to complain, to refuse, he wants a  _reaction._ He wants Harry to give up, to quit and give Louis the role. That's what he wants. He doesn't want him to cooperate, no. That's not what he wants at all. "I don't have other things to do, and since any day is fine with you..."

 

"Yeah, yeah that's fine. Only got a month and a couple of weeks left, right? I can deal." Harry shrugs. Louis purses his lips, prepared to say something else but instead nods, exiting the hallway and going back to the auditorium. Fine then, obviously Harry was set on making Louis's life miserable. Harry would have to quit at some point. This is only the beginning, he won't be able to handle the later rehearsals, memorizing all of the lines, knowing the choreography on queue. Things like that take time, practice and experience, which Louis is sure Harry has none of. He'll just wait until Harry gives up.               

 

* * *

 

  
It's a week into their solo rehearsals and Harry still hasn't given up. 

 

Louis's been pushing him as hard as he could, repeatedly telling him he hadn't said his lines right, or criticizing his every dance step, but to no avail. Harry seems as determined as Louis does and he hates it. Harry takes whatever Louis tells him and tries to do it better, pissing Louis off even more in the process. 

 

"For fucks sake Harry, you did the wrong step." Louis scolds, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest. They had been practicing for a little over an hour in Louis's flat, Zayn having left because Louis didn't want him to see anything before opening night. Zayn protested, saying he had to stay as a witness for when Louis killed Harry, but he left as soon as Louis threatened to off him too.

 

"I got that one right princess, you're just being difficult." Harry argues, and it's only when Louis's eyes widen that he realizes what he said and how he said it. "Shit, Louis, I didn't mean--" He fumbles, trying to figure out how to apologize without sounding like more of an idiot than he already did. This was beginning to be a habit and he didn't know how to stop.

 

"Shut the fuck up and do the step again." Louis growls, restarting the song and pressing play on his laptop. Harry sighs, rolling his eyes and attempting at the step once again. Louis nods when he's finished and Harry doesn't know if that means he's done well or Louis just so sick of his bullshit that he'll say he did well just to get it over with. Either option is fine by him. "Break. I need to work on my French paper for a bit."

 

Harry grabs his water from the coffee table, sitting on the ground next to Louis since they had moved the sofa to the side to make more room for practicing. "How much have you got? I haven't started mine yet." He asks as Louis opens his word document. Louis glances over at him, seeming puzzled.

 

"You've got French Four?"

 

"Yeah...we're in the same class." Harry says slowing, taking a gulp out of his water bottle then setting it down beside him. "You didn't know that?" Louis shakes his head, going back to his paper. Of course he didn't, why would he? Harry barely said a word in that class and Louis never even glanced in his direction. Not to mention their teacher rarely ever took roll, so it was far easier to skip her class rather than sit in it for an hour and a half.

 

"I try to block out anything that has to do with you." Louis tells him, resulting in silence. Good, he thinks. Harry deserves it. He can handle one insult if Louis can handle two years of them.

 

It stays quiet for a couple of more minutes, only the sound of Louis typing being heard, before Harry lays back on the hardwood floor, staring up at the ceiling. "Est-ce que ton père a été un voleur? Parce qu'il a volé les étoiles du ciel pour les mettre dans tes yeux." He says, breaking the silence. Louis stops what he's doing, glancing down at Harry with a baffled expression.

 

"Pardon?" He questions. Harry smiles lazily at him, shutting his eyes. Louis sighs.   
  


"Was your father a thief? Because he stole the stars from the sky to put them in your eyes." He repeats in English. Louis thinks for a minute, then rolls his eyes and focuses on his paper again.

 

"Funny." He mutters, tapping his fingers on his laptop and trying to figure out what else to write. They had to write an entire essay in French, the topic being their choice. He had decided on writing about a holiday he went on when he was about sixteen. His family had gone to Paris for the summer and they had let him bring a friend. That friend had happened to be Harry, but regardless, it had been a fun summer and probably one of the best he's ever had. 

 

Harry sits up, peeking over at Louis laptop and reading the first paragraph. "Oh, you're writing about our trip to France?" He questions and Louis stops typing once again, shutting his laptop and turning his head to look at Harry. He glares at him before standing up and retreating to his bedroom, only to have Harry follow him a few minutes later. Harry leans against the door frame as Louis sits at his desk with his laptop, biting the inside of his lips and crossing his arms. 

 

"I know you're there." Louis says when he begins writing again. 

 

"You hate me." Harry replies. Louis wasn't going to argue with that.

 

"I do."

 

"I don't blame you."

 

"You don't have any right to. You're the one that fucked up." Louis states, clicking away at his laptop and doing his best to concentrate with Harry in his room distracting him. "I didn't do anything." 

 

Harry stays quiet for a few seconds, then sighs. "I know I did. And no, you didn't do anything." He wasn't going to argue with that either. As long as Harry knew that he was the one at fault and it wasn't Louis, then he believes the subject is done and they shouldn't talk about it anymore.

 

"Then why are you bringing it up?" Louis asks, giving up on his paper and saving the document. He closes his laptop, still sitting with his back towards Harry and staring blankly at the top of his desk. There were still another two hours until Zayn came back, so if Harry were to say something it wouldn't get interrupted this time. He had no choice but to listen. "Almost two years of whatever the fuck it is that you've been doing, and you bring it up now." He should stop talking. Asking questions is just going to keep the conversation going and he doesn't want to talk about it. 

 

"I'm sorry." Harry spits out, standing up straight. Louis turns around facing him and waiting for him to continue. "I've been a dick to you for two years, I know, and sorry isn't gonna cut it, but I'm sorry." Louis keeps his eyes on him, face void on any emotion. "I didn't explain anything and just left you in the dark, and I'm sorry, Louis. I just...I really miss having my best friend around." 

 

Louis lets out a deep breath, staring down for a minute before looking back up at Harry. "Why though? We came back from the trip and everything was fine, then six form started and you cut me out. And if ignoring me wasn't enough, there were all of the bullshit comments you made about me in the hallway and in class. Right, then there was the time one of your fucking hipster friends went and asked me on a date just to stand me up and laugh about it the next day. Why?" He wants answers. There's so many things that Harry has done in the past two years that he's tried to make excuses for, but none of them made sense. If they were going to have this conversation, then he wanted to know why his best friend shut him out when he needed him most.

 

"It's...it's complicated." Harry stutters. Louis scoffs, shaking his head and standing up from his desk chair. Complicated. Fucking complicated. What's complicated is that Louis has to sit here and decipher what the fuck Harry even means the majority of the time. That's complicated. "I can't explain it, Louis, but I promise you, I'm sorry." Sorry, sorry, sorry. That's all he has to say. Fucking sorry. Two years of this bullshit and all he gets is a sorry. That's not what he wants and he refuses to give in.

 

"It's complicated." Louis repeats, stepping towards Harry. He will not give in. His Harry is absolutely gone and has been replaced with this fucking  _twat_  who doesn't even know what feelings are. He refuses to forgive him. Harry doesn't deserve his forgiveness. "You're a fucking mess, Harry Styles." Except he smiles a bit when he says it and Harry thinks that they're getting somewhere instead of Louis swearing at him and kicking him out. "You've always been a fucking mess." Louis reminds himself that in fact, he is  _not_  going to forgive Harry Styles. 

 

"You've always put up with it, though." Harry quips, smiling softly. Louis rolls his eyes, only he's grinning widely now and Harry's forgotten the past two years and pulls him into a hug before Louis can change his mind and tell him to fuck off like usual. "I've missed you." No no no, this isn't how it's supposed to be going. He's not supposed to let him back in, he's not supposed to step closer to him,  _he's not supposed to forgive him._

 

He doesn't say anything, instead he just hugs back and smiles because he's missed this and he's missed being around Harry without wanting to punch him in the face and it's nice to finally be able to call him a friend again instead of an enemy. Fuck, he's forgiven him and he can't go back and he's let his guard down all because Harry Styles is such a fucking  _idiot_.

 

"We should really go back to practicing though." Louis says when they pull away, earning a laugh from Harry. Harry slings his arm over Louis's shoulders, the smaller boy guiding him out if the room and into the living room. "And don't call me princess again." 

 

Harry nods quickly, giving a sheepish grin and grabbing his script from the coffee table. "So, start from Act two?" 

 

* * *

 

 

Things really get on from there. Louis and Harry slowly slip into their old routine, going to lunch with each other after class, laughing and joking around during rehearsal. Whenever it's just Harry on stage, he sit back in the seats, making the weirdest faces he can muster up just to distract him and make him mess up his lines. 

 

Harry and Liam start sitting with him, Zayn and Niall during choir, the four of them constantly being told off for laughing too loudly at a joke Louis had made instead of focusing in class and practicing the song they're working on. Louis doesn't mind it though, because he feels so comfortable and everything is so normal now that him and Harry are back to being best mates. It's like that past two years hadn't happened and Louis really likes that.

 

They start sitting together in their French class, Harry telling Louis stupid and cheesy pick-up lines when the teacher isn't listening and Louis trying to stop himself from laughing so they won't get separated. It works the majority of the time, except sometimes Harry will say something ridiculous like "Hey, I lost my underwear, can I see yours?" and Louis can't help but bark out a laugh. Sure, he gets a dirty look from his French teacher, but it's all worth it and he doesn't really mind being reprimanded.

 

Almost nothing gets done during their private rehearsals. Harry will start saying his lines and then he'll accidentally call Louis Ariel and Louis will break out into fits of laughter, causing Harry to do the same and they'll end up sitting on the ground with their scripts set aside, telling each other stupid jokes and laughing for the majority of the time. 

 

"Okay, seriously. We need to memorize this." Louis nudges Harry's shoulder and stands up, picking his script up off the ground and helping up Harry. Harry sighs, pouting a bit, but grabbing his own script and opening it to the last scene they were on. "Only a couple more scenes, yeah?"

 

"This is the one with the kiss in it." Harry tells him, showing Louis where it says they kiss and smiling. Louis shrugs. "How do you do the fake kiss thing?" He asks, reading through the script before looking up at Louis with a curious expression. Louis fidgets nervously, then takes a deep breath and stands confidently. 

 

"You know that one I've got to do with Aiden?" Harry nods, biting his lip. Aiden was the one that had gotten the role of Chuck. Him and Louis were pretty good friends, good enough that they could fake kiss so well that even their Drama Instructor thought it had been a real one. Harry didn't exactly like Aiden. "Basically, when I go up to him and he dips me down, his back is towards the audience and they can't see that we're not actually kissing. Then add in like, touching his face or whatever and it seems pretty real." 

 

"Oh." Is all Harry manages. He clears his throat, throwing his script off to the side and smiling cheekily. "Let's practice it, then."

 

Louis raises a brow, crossing his arms and shrugging. "Alright then Styles. Don't drop me." He warns in a serious tone, then smiles and stands in front of Harry. "Well," He starts. "You gonna kiss me then or what?" Harry doesn't know if that's Louis being Louis or if it's an actual line from the script, but he knows it's an invitation so he grabs Louis by his hips and dips him. He brings their faces closer together and Louis lays a hand on his cheek, his other hand on Harry's shoulder, and he's sure that if someone were to walk in, it'd seem like they were in the middle of kissing and that's exactly how it should be.

 

They stay like that for a couple of seconds, Harry's eyes tracing every spot on Louis's face, from his sweeping eyelashes to his crystal, baby blue eyes, to his  before they focus on his lips. The urge to lean in and kiss him grows stronger and before him or Louis realize what's happening, he leans his and pushes his lips onto Louis, taking the smaller boy by surprise. Louis freezes, not sure how to react. He could pull away, act like it didn't happen and go along with their rehearsal like normal. 

 

Or he could grip at the back of Harry's curls, closing his eyes and melt into the kiss instead. That's exactly what he does. Harry's lips are smooth, soft even, and they taste like the mint chapstick he had seen him put on earlier. He had teased him relentlessly for it, but  _god_ , he's so glad he had put it on. 

 

Harry pulls away, staring down at Louis, breathing heavy. Louis's cheeks are flushed red, his hair disheveled and a small smile playing at his lips. Harry smiles back, blinking a couple of times before mindlessly letting go of Louis's hips and dropping him before he could realize what he's done.

 

"Harry!" Louis exclaims, glaring up at the taller boy. "For fucks sake, is this gonna happen on stage? I don't think my bum can handle it." Harry grins sheepishly, holding out a hand and helping him up. Louis brushes himself off, then glances at Harry. "So what's this mean then?"

 

"Um," Harry thinks of something to say. Something like,  _I've been in love with you for two years,_  only he can't bring himself to say that, so he goes with the second best option. "I like you, Louis." 

 

Louis chuckles. "Figured that, Curly. What else does it mean?" The thing is, Harry doesn't know. He hadn't planned on this, he didn't plan to kiss Louis in the middle of the boy's flat when they were supposed to be rehearsing. "Is this...is this gonna be a thing? I haven't like, been on dates before or anything." He confesses. "Not since Hannah." 

 

Harry remembers Hannah. He remembers Louis being confused about his sexuality, thinking that if he dated a girl he'd figure it out. He did, eventually, breaking up with Hannah before their trip to France and admitting to Harry that he was positive he was gay. Harry hadn't said anything. Just hugged Louis like he normally did and went on with their day. He wish he would've said something.

 

"I could take you on a date?" Harry says. "If you want." He really wants to take Louis on a date. 

 

"A date. A proper date." Louis says back to him. Harry nods. "Yeah, that'd be nice." 

 

"Tomorrow? After rehearsal?" He suggests, sitting on the floor and grabbing his script from where he had thrown it. 

 

"Sounds great." And that's it. They have a date.

 

* * *

 

 

Louis doesn't get nervous. He's a performer. He doesn't get nervous.

 

Except today. He's nervous. 

 

He's messing up on his lines in normal rehearsal and he's missed an entire step for the opening number, and he's just a disaster. It's not even because of the show, no matter how much he tries to convince himself it is. Of course they're only got another month until opening night and they're still on the script, but he's not worried about that. He always pulls through when it comes to this sort of thing. He's calm about that.

 

It's the date. That's what has him fumbling his lines and missing his footing and he can't believe he's gotten like this over a date he's got with Harry. It's only Harry, not like it's someone important or someone he doesn't know. It's just Harry. He knows that it's only Harry, but he still can't help but get nervous when he passes Harry on stage, or when they're singing  _Almost Paradise_ and Louis will accidentally start singing Ren's part and he's just a fucking mess. 

 

Zayn tries to help him get ready after the group rehearsal, only it turns into Perrie going through all of Louis's clothes and Zayn sitting on the edge of Louis's bed and telling him that the date was going to go perfectly fine. "What if I do something to mess it up?" What if they go to dinner and he spills wine on Harry? Or what if he accidentally insults him? What if he steps on him, or falls in front of them? There's so many things he could do to mess it up and he's not sure where to begin. 

 

"You won't, Louis." Zayn says, reassuring him. He had half expected Zayn to laugh in his face when he said he had a date with Harry, but instead gave Louis a smug look and offered his and Perrie's assistance before Harry came to pick him up. "You're Louis Tomlinson. Just think of it as like, a role or something. You're playing the part of a young, confident lad who can be a bit daft sometimes, but is still confident." 

 

"So Danny in Grease."

 

"Sure, let's go with that." Louis sighs, shaking his head and standing up from his bed. Perrie was still going through his closet, probably trying to find something that wasn't too worn out or dirty. That was going to take her longer than she thought, probably. 

 

She grabs something five minutes later, shoving a white t-shirt and a black pair of jeans in his arms. "Here, go get dressed." She orders, pushing his towards the bathroom and smiling to herself. Louis rolls his eyes, but enters the bathroom.

 

He comes out about ten minutes later, fully dressed and his fringe styled and swept to the side. Perrie smiles as Zayn whistles, Louis just shakes his head and sits on the bed next to them. He had fifteen minutes until Harry would be there to pick him up, fifteen minutes until he would be on a date. Fifteen minutes.

 

"I've gotta go, but Perrie's gonna stay till he picks you up." Zayn says, standing up and sliding his phone in his pocket. Louis raises an eyebrow, curious to where Zayn had to be. Last time he checked, Zayn usually doesn't have that many plans during the week, especially on a Friday when everyone is at home because most people have exams and there aren't any parties to go to.  Louis would know, he gets invited to all of them. 

 

He decides not to press it for now, to just wait until Zayn gets back from wherever he's going to interrogate him about it later. Maybe Zayn has a date of his own, or maybe he's secretly in a gang and Louis just didn't know. There were a lot of possibilities he could come up with in thirteen minutes. Which is now the amount of time he had until Harry showed up. Thirteen minutes.

 

He and Perrie go and sit in the living room, talking about classes and the musical to pass the time and to ease Louis's nerves. Louis goes on about how well everything has been going, that they've memorized most of the lines and the majority of the girls have stopped hating him for taking the role they wanted. It's a dull conversation but it passes time. Ten minutes.

 

They was a few minutes of one of Britain's Next Great Baker, seeing as it was going off soon and there was nothing else on that they wanted to watch. Louis begins to tell Perrie about how Harry used to work in a bakery and he'd bring Louis all of the pastries that they had to throw out at the end of the day. He jokes that that's what he's missed most about being best friends with Harry. Seven minutes.

 

He starts making stupid jokes and Perrie teases him when he starts talking about things that happened with Harry in rehearsal the past couple of weeks. Harry and George, the boy who plays Willard, came out during I Need a Hero on broom sticks, acting as if they were knights in a fairy tale. It was so entertaining that they had decided to keep it in the actual musical. Four minutes.

 

He slips on his shoes and Perrie lays on his lap, counting down until Harry was supposed to get there, the TV playing in the background as Perrie tells Louis about a boy in one of her classes that she thinks is cute. Louis glances nervously at the clock on the wall and bites his lip. One minute.

 

Harry doesn't show up on the dot, Louis didn't expect that. So him and Perrie laze around a bit more, switching the channel and finding a music station to leave it on. Harry's five minutes late.

 

Louis's grown anxious now, but Perrie's telling him not to worry, that Harry's probably just running late and will be there any time soon. Harry's ten minutes late. 

 

"Fuck him, then." Louis mutters when Harry ends up being thirty minutes late. He's not an idiot, he can tell when he's been stood up. Not like it hasn't happened before. 

 

Perrie pulls him into her side, rubbing his arm and glancing down at him sadly. She grabs her phone from the coffee table, sending Zayn a quick text message on what's happened. Louis sighs, grabbing his own phone from his back pocket and checking to see if he had any missed calls or messages from Harry, maybe explaining why he was late, or maybe why he can't make it. Something to reassure Louis that he wasn't stupid for thinking Harry actually wanted to take him out. 

 

There's nothing, though. A text from Niall and a missed call from his mum, but besides that, there's nothing from Harry. He thinks it over before unlocking his phone and dialing Harry's phone, bringing it up to his ear and letting it ring until it going straight to voicemail. Of course. Idiot of the year award goes to Louis, for thinking that Harry actually wasn't an asshole that cared about him. 

 

* * *

 

 

He tells Zayn he's quitting the musical. Zayn tells him to stop being an idiot. They get into an argument over it before Zayn physically drags Louis to rehearsal. Louis tells himself he'll leave right after Zayn gets kicked out of the auditorium, but somehow Zayn is allowed to stay and watch so there goes his plans. 

 

Harry's already on stage when he enters the auditorium, in the middle of the scene where he gets confronted by the principal for dancing in the hallway. Louis refuses to smile when Harry starts singing I Can't Stand Still, even more so when Harry hits the high note. He will not be impressed, he's supposed to be upset. 

 

"Are you in this one?" Zayn asks, nodding towards where Harry was finishing the song. Louis looks back at the stage and widens his eyes when he realizes he's supposed to be up there. "Well go then!" He exclaims and Louis slips to the backstage area, coming out on his cue and standing with the other actors as Harry finishes the scene. He didn't really have to do much at the end of it, just stand behind and act shocked mostly. He goes off stage when he needs to, sitting on a stool and watching the rest of the scene play out. 

 

Harry hasn't even acknowledged him yet, but Louis supposes he can't really blame him. He's distracted since he's in the majority of the scenes, and well, he'd ignore the person he stood up too. 

 

It's not until two scenes later that he and Harry have a scene together. They make eye contact when Louis brushes past him to go to his place on stage with Eleanor and the other two girls that play Wendy Jo and Urleen. The scene is weird the entire time, Louis and Harry obviously acting tense around each other. Harry seems apologetic, but Louis knows better than actually believe the things he says or does, so he goes on with the seen as normal as he can until the musical number and the end of the scene.

 

Louis doesn't expect Harry to come up to him and Zayn after rehearsal. He doesn't expect half the things that Harry does, really. Like asking him out on a date and then standing him up the night of, even though he  _knows_  how sensitive Louis is about that. 

 

"Louis," Harry says, grabbing Louis's arm before he can leave the auditorium. Both he and Zayn turn around, Louis glancing down at Harry's hand on his arm and Zayn shooting Harry a murderous glare. Zayn's great. "Can we talk? Please?" Louis hasn't really paid too much attention to him besides when they had been on stage, but Harry looks like he hadn't gotten sleep at all that weekend, but Louis refuses to feel bad. Harry deserves it.

 

Louis quickly looks to Zayn, who's still glaring at Harry. Louis sighs, glancing back at Harry and nodding. "Yeah, make it quick." He replies, giving Zayn a look as to say "it's fine". Zayn nods slowly then leaves the auditorium. Everyone else has already left, leaving Louis and Harry all alone. Louis contemplates murder. Maybe not today.

 

"I'm sorry Louis, I didn't mean to not show up." Harry spills out, letting go of Louis's arm. "Nick had taken my phone and hid my keys after I had told him I was going on a date with you. He's um, the one that had asked you out that one time. I didn't tell him to do it that time, though." Louis stays quiet, waiting for Harry to continue. "Anyways, my flat is a lot farther from yours, and I didn't want us to have to take the tube to where we were going, but I couldn't call you either so I had no idea what to do, and I panicked and just stayed home. I meant to call you over the weekend and explain, but Nick still hadn't given back my phone and he changed the password on my laptop."

 

"Why didn't you just come over then? Couldn't have bothered you that much if you didn't make that effort." Louis says, but the snappy tone to back up his statement is missing, and instead he just sounds hurt and tired. 

 

"I did, but Zayn said you didn't want to see me, and I'm sorry, Louis." Harry apologizes again, his voice straining. "For everything. When we came back from France that summer, I felt weird. It took me a bit to figure it out, but I had feelings for you and I was scared so I thought if I would've just stopped interacting with you they would go away. They didn't, so then I just started sleeping with different girls, to convince myself that I was straight. It didn't work, though, it never did, but by then you already hated me so I just went with it. Then I realized how stupid I was, so Niall convinced me to try out for the musical to impress you. Basically, I'm a dick that's been in love with you for two years."

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Louis searches Harry's face, looking for a sign of lying or joking. He doesn't see either and regardless of how well Harry had been doing the past month or so, he was still a somewhat shitty actor. "Are you sure?" Louis asks, voice a bit shaky. Harry nods and Louis doesn't know if he wants to smack him or swear at him or all of the above, so he does what any normal person would do and crashes his lips against Harry's. 

 

Harry stumbles back a bit, caught off guard. He catches his footing, grabbing onto Louis's waist and deepening the kiss. Louis wraps his arms around Harry's neck, standing on his toes and shutting his eyes. Louis leans his body in, his lips moving in rhythm with Harry's. It stays like that for a minute before he pulls away, eyes fluttering opening and staring into Harry's. His lips curl into a smile, standing straight and pulling Harry into a hug. He rests his head on Harry's chest, letting out a sigh.

 

"You're a fucking mess, Harry Styles." Louis mumbles, but Harry can hear the fondness in his voice. "And I'm a fucking mess, too." He finishes. Harry chuckles, shaking his head. "We can be a fucking mess together."

 

"I wouldn't want anything else." Harry replies, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Louis's head. "We should probably leave though, Zayn probably thinks one of us has died."

 

Louis laughs, letting go of Harry and nodding. "Point there." He says. "Do you think him and Liam have got a thing going on?" He grabs Harry's hand in his, leading the both of them out of the auditorium and back to his and Zayn's flat. 

 

"Depends, has Zayn been going out at weird times without telling you where he's going?" Harry asks and Louis nods. "Then yes, I think they've got a thing going on."

 

"Do  _we_ have a thing going on?"

 

"I think we've got a thing going on, yeah." Harry says, shrugging. "Do you think we do?"

 

Louis purses his lips, then nods. "Well if this," He gestures towards their intertwined hands "is anything to go by, then yes, we have a thing." Harry smiles. They have a thing, right. He likes that they've got a thing. He likes that Louis doesn't hate him. He just really likes anything that has to do with Louis.

 

 

* * *

 

Opening night is a success. No one questions the roles, not out loud at least. Louis breezes through his lines and hit musical numbers, as does Harry and Louis has to admit that Harry isn't as bad a dancer as he thought. Not as bad an actor either. Not really bad at anything, if you asked Louis. 

 

Their friends rush up to them as soon as the show is over, Perrie holding a bouquet of flowers for Louis. He grabs them from her, saying thank you and holding them out so he could wrap her in a one handed hug. He was still buzzing from the excitement of the show, but he's sure it'll dwindle down as soon as he got back to the flat. 

 

He glances over to Harry, who's being congratulated by his group of friends, which includes Nick, but Louis shakes his head, turning back to Perrie, Niall and Zayn. "I did well though, yeah?" He asks and they all immediately nod, Perrie going on to gush on how great Louis's acting had been. Niall gives a few compliments, but is mostly interested in getting the number of the choreographer whose name Louis couldn't remember. He thinks it starts with a B or something, but he'll figure it out later. 

 

"Great job Lou, the show was sick." Zayn tells him, patting his shoulder. 

 

"Thanks man, means a lot." He says, smiling. A few of the other cast and crew members go up to him, congratulating him and telling him how well he had down. He returns the favor, engaging in a conversation for a few minutes before someone hugs him from behind. He jumps, slightly startled until he turns his head and sees Harry behind him. "Don't scare me like that!" He exclaims, slapping Harry's arm. Harry laughs, pressing a kiss to Louis's cheek and laughing. 

 

"Oops." Harry mutters, continuing to press quick kisses to Louis's cheek. Louis giggles, turning his face and planting a chaste kiss on Harry's lips. Harry smiles. "There's a cast party going on, wanna go?" 

 

"Mm, maybe not tonight. Got other plans." Louis smirks. "Zayn's staying at Liam's flat tonight, I figured you could stay at mine..." He suggests, biting his lip. Harry pauses, smiling and standing straight. "How eager."

 

"Well you invited me to spend the night, do you expect me to  _take my time_?" Harry shrugs, letting go of Louis's waist and beginning to walk towards the auditorium exit. Louis rolls his eyes, following after him. Zayn sends him a curious glance as he rushes by, but Louis just winks back and rushes out after Harry, whose calling his name half way down the street. 

 

Louis laughs, catching up to him and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Calm down Styles, we've got the entire night." He grins, leaning his head onto Harry's arm. It's dark and windy and Louis's kinda cold, but he's got Harry beside him and that's all that matters to him right now.

**Author's Note:**

> as usual, feedback and comments always appreciated! 
> 
> find me on [tumblr](donnyslouis.tumblr.com)


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